Second Chances
by MissMandyPandy
Summary: After a bad break up with Finn, can Rachel have a second chance at love, even with someone she might have never expected? Review review review, they make a writer write more!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This isn't my story, it's my friend's, but she doesn't have a FF, so please do favorite, alert and review and I'll pass it on. I loved it! Enjoy. **

**Disclamer: I, nor my friend, own Glee or anything of that sort.**

When Rachel started dating Finn she had this teenager image of love, of them going to prom together, dancing with him, wearing her sparkling dress and high-heeled shoes while he spun her around the dance floor in his arms. Of course as we all know teenager images of love aren't always exactly the way things end up working out. Weeks before prom Finn broke up with Rachel. He found himself still attracted to Quinn, still wanting to date Quinn, still feeling a sort of possessiveness toward her. To Rachel he just said, "Uh, sorry, but I can't see you anymore" and though his face held that puppy dog regretful look, like when you catch your dog chewing on an item that is not his, Rachel could tell Finn was serious.

After Finn broke up with her she started the long walk out of the school to her car, walking through the parking lot she kept her head up, kept her walk purposeful, willing herself not to let one tear slide out of her eye, down her cheek, not until she got in the car, not until her engine was running, not until her car was moving, better yet, not until she was in her room with her door closed and music on so her dad wouldn't come home from work and hear her crying or her other dad for that matter either.

Rachel pulled into the driveway and grabbed her purse and backpack from the passenger seat, she was up the walk and had her key in the lock when she heard his voice behind her.

"Rachel? Did you forget?"

Rachel turned in surprise, she dropped her keys, Puck was standing behind her with his history book and a beat-up notebook and a pencil over his ear. She fumbled picking her keys up, she fumbled opening the door and stuttered as she walked inside, "No, I didn't forget, come on in, the dining room is this way, go ahead and get settled, I'll just be a minute," she left him standing just outside the door as she tried to walk casually up the steps. She'd forgotten, how could she have remembered, what with Finn breaking up with her, how could she have remembered that today she and Puck were studying, studying history.

Puck watched her go up the stairs, he saw her hand tapping along the rail as she walked up, not her fingers, not like she was happily drumming the railing, but the palm of her hand, like she was talking to herself, like she was nervous, like she was reminding herself. Puck closed the door behind himself and looked at the dining room table, clearly this was where Rachel did a lot of her homework, there was a cup of pencils in the center of the table and little eraser shavings on the edge, toward the right of one chair. Puck scratched his head, ran his hand over his Mohawk, then sat down at the table with his book and notebook. He looked around the room, flowers on end tables, framed pictures on the walls, pictures of Rachel and her dads, pictures of her with just one dad or the other, with grandparents, family get together pictures, Puck stood up for a closer look.

"I-I'm sorry about that," Rachel said walking into the room, she was changed from her school clothes of a skirt and top and was wearing shorts and a sweat shirt, and socks, no shoes. Her hair was in a pony tail and she was wearing glasses. "I had to change clothes," she walked over to Puck, stood beside him and looked up at the pictures with him. He looked down at her, in her casual after-school clothes and smiled, he hadn't ever seen Rachel so unwound, so relaxed, it was a welcomed change. He had never seen her with glasses, she looked cute.

"Why don't you dress like this for school?" He asked, motioning from her head to her toes.

"Uh, well, I, it doesn't look nice. Normally I wouldn't dress like this to study, but, I had, such an awful day, I just had to get into comfort clothes. Comfort clothes are like comfort food you know, they can relax you, change your mood, make you feel-" She paused, looking up at Puck's face, at his dark eyes, she took a little uneasy step backward, "-better, all better," she said quietly, finishing her sentence.

Puck didn't know what made her day bad, like any guy he wasn't sure if he should ask or not, but he knew that he was hot and had a smokin' body and a hug from him always made the girls feel good. So, he leaned down, put his arms around the top of Rachel's shoulders and gave her a hug that not only enveloped her arms, but pulled her forward until she was against his chest. Puck smiled to himself, that always helped.

"What was that for?" Rachel asked, a little off balance, Puck hadn't taken his arms off her, but he loosened his grip a little and she could lean back and look at him.

"You looked like you needed a hug and you said you had an awful day," was all he said. Rachel nodded and smiled and gave him a quick squeeze then let go and started for the table. Puck followed her and sat down in the chair closest to the one she was sitting in. He would wait and see if she had anything else to say, she was a girl so he figured she'd share her entire day before he went home for supper.

Rachel sat down and scooted her chair forward, then opened her book and her notebook. When Puck sat down right next to her she was a little surprised, at this point in her life, in her day at least, she was feeling so bad and so rejected from Finn having broken up with her, completely out-of-the blue, in her opinion at least, well, she was just feeling so bad about herself she couldn't believe Puck would choose the chair nearest her when he could have just as easily sat across from her or on one of the table ends.

"Okay, the test is in three days, we need to review chapter 6, have you read it?" She asked him, thumbing through the chapter to the review questions at the end. Puck leaned over her shoulder looking at the pages with her, his arm casually draped over the back of her chair.

"Well, you know, the teacher went over it in class," he scratched the back of his neck, "He had notes and I wrote down what he said, what he wrote on the projector," Puck leaned his head on his hand, his elbow on the table, "I didn't read it at home though, if that's what you're asking." Then he looked at her and smiled, thinking to himself, Charm her, Charm her, or she will scold you.

Rachel sighed, was she the only student who took school seriously? Who read the chapters when the teacher said to read the chapters. But, well, going over the material with Puck would help her learn the information further, and he had to get a B or higher on this test or he was out of Glee. Schools and their grade requirements, didn't administrators know not all students cared about history and science? Some students were artists!

"Well, it is rather dull, I mean, my dad, he taught me a lot about the civil war when I was a kid, so I know it inside out, but-"suddenly as her eyes crossed the room, and looked out of the dining room and down the hall and into the living room, she saw a jacket of Finn's that he'd left at her house just two evenings ago. He'd been over to "study" but had spent the evening sitting on the couch with her, NOT studying. Suddenly Rachel felt angry, embarrassed, furious, she felt her face grow hot, she stood up, forgetting the Civil War, forgetting Puck was sitting next to her, and she stomped from the room.

Stomping with socks isn't as loud as stomping with say, shoes, but she stomped angrily from the dining room, across the hallway, into the living room, ripped the jacket so angrily off the chair that the chair tipped backwards, then without noticing the chair she stomped out the front door and threw the jacket onto the porch. She saw her cell phone on the little table inside the door, and angrily jerked it off the table and began typing so fiercely Puck thought sure she would break something, either the phone or a thumb or something. At that point, he stood up and with a few long strides he was right next to her.

"I thought if we started talking about the Civil War you'd come out of your funk or whatever, but clearly we're not going to get anything accomplished until you get it off your chest," he took the phone from her hand and easily tossed it, sending it sailing across the room, and landing softly on the couch. Rachel looked first after her phone in surprise, then up at Puck's face. He looked so caring and sweet that she couldn't keep it in any longer, and she started to cry.

Puck followed her to the stairs where she sat down on the bottom step, he sat next to her and put his arm around her shoulders and she let her head fall against him and she cried.


	2. Chapter 2

Puck liked to maintain the reputation of a player, one of his favorite activities, one that he was most known for, rhymed with his name and that was a coincidence that always made him smile. As he sat on the steps with Rachel leaning against him crying he couldn't help but realize sex was actually the last thing on his mind at the moment. He sort of felt protective of Rachel, only half attracted to her, well, more than half attracted to her, she did have a sort of charm, like, a teacher from the 50s or something. He leaned his cheek on the top of her head and patted her arm, hmm, her hair smelled good.

"I'm so sorry," she sniffled, sitting up straighter, she patted his leg, "Thank you, I'm so sorry, really, I, I hate to cry in front of people like that, and I really am sorry," Rachel stood up, she took her glasses off, wiped them, then set them down on the step and wiped her eyes with the bottom of her shirt. Puck smiled, amused to see this side of Rachel that was so different from her school persona, seeing someone who was always all prim and proper, wipe their tears on their shirt, well, it made her seem real. If only she would wipe her nose on her sleeve, he'd probably have to grab her and kiss her right then.

"No problem, Rachel, I'm sorry you had such a rotten day. What happened anyway?" He hadn't been planning to ask, but, what the hell, she probably wanted to talk about it anyway, she liked to talk, he knew that much about her. Well, that and she had gotten good grades in history all year, which was why he was here in the first place. He hoped she would calm down enough to get back to the studying…

"Finn dumped me," Rachel blurted, she hadn't been planning to get into it, but she hadn't spoken the sentence out loud yet, and it felt good to do so. "Finn," a pause, she frowned, "Broke up," another pause, she looked down at Puck, still sitting on the step, she stifled a sudden giggle, "Finn broke up with me," once she got all the words out she laughed. Puck raised his eyebrows and stood up. What an odd reaction she was having. Rachel stopped laughing and shook her head, she pulled the legs of her shorts down and reach down and pulled her socks up. Once she seemed to feel a little more put together she started for the dining room table, pulling the sides of her sweatshirt down and tucking the ends under about two inches. Puck followed her.

"I'm not really sure what's so funny about that," he said, "But I guess laughing is as good as crying for letting your emotions out," he sat down next to her at the table. He glanced at her book and opened his to the same page, then looked at her expectantly.

"You know, Puck, eh, Noah, I don't know what to call you," her words trailed off.

"Well, what do you feel comfortable with?" He asked her. She smiled and nodded, flipped a page in her book, found the review questions at the end of chapter six and grabbed her pencil.

"Okay, Puck, I'm going to ask you the questions, then you can either write your answers or tell me your answers. Either way works."

"I would rather tell you then have to worry about writing them down," he answered. He felt a little curious and wanted to talk more about Finn, but honestly, what difference did it make, they'd probably end up back together again. He wondered if he should give Finn a little talk tomorrow at school, about breaking up with girls, there had to be a better way to do it. Ah, but screw Finn, he was not exactly competition, but why give him any sort of edge.

The phone rang after about four review questions, it was the home phone, not Rachel's cell, but she pushed her chair back from the table and went to answer it. Puck looked at the notes she'd written down in response to his answers to the questions. She had written that he needed more well-formulated answers, basically, more words to make his answers seem more like he knew what he was doing. He sighed and read ahead the next review questions, preparing the answers in his head.

Rachel stood in the doorway to the kitchen with the phone to her ear. She felt silly talking on a corded phone, surely her dads were the only parents in town to still use a phone with a long spiral cord, though it did give one something to do with their hands while they were on the phone. It was Mercedes on the phone, saying she and Kurt were going to a movie Friday night, well, they had been planning it, but Mercedes had just been asked out for that night by the big hulking hunky quarter back of a foot ball team from their conference, and she really wanted to go, but didn't want to hurt Kurt's feelings. She was asking Rachel what she thought was the best way to change the plans. Rachel said not to worry, she knew there was an exhibit at the museum about an hour away that night that she thought Kurt would enjoy, she would call him right then, ask if he could go, and then call Mercedes back and let her know. Then Rachel glanced up and saw Puck looking at their books and she told Mercedes she would call Kurt later, she was busy.

"Ooo, what kind of busy?" Mercedes teased. Rachel laughed and told her she was just studying with Puck. Mercedes let out a little gasp and asked if Finn knew, then Rachel realized she shouldn't have said anything, because she was dying to spill to her friend all about getting dumped (getting dumped! Still so hard to believe) but she didn't want to get into it and possibly get all weepy again, with Puck right there. Plus she had promised him a good study session.

"Mercedes, I just have to call you later, "she said, then she whispered, "I will explain everything later!"

"I'm sorry Puck, okay, where were we?" Rachel sat down and looked at her notebook. Puck put his hand over her hands and looked at her, waiting for her to look up. He heard her take a breath and look up at him.

"What?" She asked.

"Come on, Rachel; get it off your chest. Why did Finn break up with you? I know it's all in there right now, bouncing around inside that head of yours, and it needs to get out, once you let it out you can really focus on something else, on the ever thrilling Civil War, for example." He smiled, and did a Vanna White gesture toward their school materials. Rachel laughed, then she looked into his eyes, his earnest expression and she put her hands on his wrists and held onto them and leaned forward and kissed him. She kissed him for a long while, and much to her relief he kissed her right back. Finally he shrugged out of her grip and put his hands on her face, kissed her a little more then pulled back and looked at her.

"Uh, Rachel," he began. But she interrupted him by kissing him again, then she moved onto his lap and continued kissing him, he put his arms around her waist.

"Rachel?" her dad's voice came in the back door, startling her back to reality. She jumped off Puck's lap and into her chair, she pulled her sleeve across her mouth and picked up her pencil.

"In the dining room dad!" She called out in the clearest voice she could manage. Puck scooted his chair in closer to the table and wiped his mouth and picked his pencil up.

"We're just in here studying, the Civil War," he called out. Rachel's eyes widened for a moment. She got up hurriedly and went to the kitchen to meet her dad. He came into the dining room with her, she was pleased to see Puck was standing up to greet him by the time they got to the table.

"Ah, the Civil War huh? Yes, brothers fighting brothers, the last great war fought on American soil. Phew, thank goodness for that," her dad put his hand out to shake Puck's hand, "You must be Noah, nice to see another young man around here once in a while," he looked at Puck's Mohawk, "Not that I have anything against Finn, he does give me something to chuckle at now and again." Puck stifled a laugh.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Berry, Rachel is quite the history whiz you know, she's helping me get back on my game in history so I can stay in glee club," he smiled at Rachel, "Not that I ever thought glee club would be my thing, but sir, well, the chicks like a guy with a guitar."

"Yes, so do the guys actually," Rachel's dad teased. Rachel's face grew red and she started pushing her dad out of the room.

"Okay dad, thanks, good to see you, we'll be getting back to our studies now," she pushed him all the way out of the dining room and into the kitchen, he was laughing the whole time and when she came back to the table Puck was laughing too. Men! They could really be annoying!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So my friend writes much faster than me, plus she only has one story, and writes when she's bored. Here's chapter three, short, but here (: Enjoy and review! **

When Rachel went to start her car the next morning it wouldn't even turn over, frustrated she glanced at her watch, her parents were already gone for the day and she knew they were too far away to come back for her. She called Mercedes, then Kurt, but neither of them picked up. In a huff she threw her backpack over her shoulder, held her coffee in one hand and wedged her purse under her other arm and started for school as a quick pace. After two blocks she realized if she walked all the way to school at this speed with these shoes she would ruin her feet, so she took her shoes off and carried them in the same hand as her purse. She hurried along.

"Why are you walking?" Came a voice from behind her, she heard a car's rumbling engine slow down. Rachel stopped and turned around, it was Puck, of course.

"My car didn't want to start, I couldn't get a hold of anyone, I have to get to school some how don't I?" Puck noticed some of the normal Rachel-irritation in her voice. Maybe it went with the school clothes, she certainly didn't talk to him that way last night when they were studying.

"Well, you didn't call me, I can give you a ride," he started to unbuckle his seat belt. Rachel watched him walk around and open her door, "I'm not always going to be opening doors for you Miss Berry, but I see you have your hands full," he explained. Rachel slid into the front seat, dropped her purse and back pack to the floor and reached her arm out to shut the door, but Puck was already closing it and walking around the back of the car to the driver's side.

"Thank you, Puck," she tossed her hair over her shoulder and reached down to put her shoes on. He was still sitting there, not driving, she looked at him with surprise, "Um, why aren't we moving?"

"Seat belt. I mean, I know I might sound square or something, but, if you don't buckle up and I get pulled over, which has been known to happen now and again, well, if you don't buckle up then I get the ticket, and I would make you pay me for it, but still-"

"I understand," Rachel laughed. Shoes on, she pulled her seatbelt out from the wall of the car and fastened it. "There, Mr. Safety, I am ready to go to school." She smiled and patted his arm, "Let 'er rip!" She added. Puck laughed and stepped on the gas, the car lurched forward and he gave her a sideways grin as she gripped the side of her door, her body pressing back against the seat from the speed. Puck slowed down in a moment, he didn't want to get a ticket after all, but it was fun to alarm girls with speed, if only for a half a block or so.

"You are crazy!" Rachel said in a shaky voice, "You aren't going to do that again are you?" She looked at him with wide eyes, reaching for her back pack, as if she was preparing herself to get out just in case he sped up again.

"No, relax, jeez," he said turning a corner. Good thing he has slowed down, a police cruiser sat in a driveway watching cars and students, all that morning school traffic. Puck waved to him with a grin as he passed. "That's right, I'm driving the limit, no worries here," he said patronizingly as he drove past. The cop frowned. Rachel shook her head, but she was amused, even impressed, Puck was exciting to be around.

At school Puck pulled his car into a space and got out, Rachel paused a moment, then decided not to give him a chance to get to her door, she opened it and got out, then reached back in for her things. Puck was standing by the hood waiting for her, so she walked over and when he started walking she walked next to him. Our of the corner of her eye she saw Finn walking toward the school, but he must have seen her out of the corner of his eye because he changed direction and walked straight toward her.

"What the hell, Rachel?" He looked from her to Puck and back to her, then back to Puck. Rachel kept walking and Puck stayed right in pace with her.

"Morning Hudson," Puck said, giving Finn a half grin. Finn frowned even harder and reached his hand out to take Rachel's arm.

"What are you doing, Finn?" She asked, jerking her arm away, dropping her back pack, which just then had been slung over that particular shoulder. Finn let go of her arm but stood in front of her.

"What am I doing? What are you doing? Why are you coming to school with this guy? Where's your car? What's going on?" Finn sounded angry, but oddly, he also sounded hurt. Rachel hiked her back pack onto her back and looked at Puck, then looked at Finn. She couldn't understand why he was upset, he was the one who broke up with her, he was the one who wanted to be with someone else, with Quinn for heaven's sake! Why was he upset that she was walking with another guy?

"Finn, YOU broke up with ME!" She stomped her foot and moved toward him a step, "I think that entitles me to do whatever I please and that entitles you to, well, to mind your own business! Well, it doesn't entitle you to mind your own business, it, it, it means you should mind your own business!" Her words stumbled out of her mouth and she stomped her foot again, then started back toward the building. Puck gave Finn a back ward glance, with a smile, and joined her.

"Oh," Finn whispered to himself, "I broke up with you. I broke up with her. Oh yeah," he looked around to see who was watching, to see if anyone heard him remembering out loud, he'd broken up with Rachel, then he sheepishly started walking to the school himself.

"See? I told you," Mercedes said to Kurt, they were a few car lengths down, but had heard the whole incident. The night before after Rachel spilled the whole story to Mercedes, Kurt called, not wanting to have to repeat the entire thing again, Rachel told him to call Mercedes, so she had the job of filling Kurt in. Now, Kurt looked after Rachel and Puck, and Finny trailing behind, his mouth hanging open, Kurt's mouth, not Finn's.

"Wow, just, wow. It's not that shocking that he broke up with her, it's not that shocking that she's coming to school with Puck-although I'd like to get the back story on that! But, did my ears just deceive me or did Finny forget he broke up with Rachel?" Kurt looked from the departing trio to Mercedes. She started to laugh and pulled him along, they had to get in the building and at least on their way to class, before they were too late.

"Kurt, I think he did just that, I think he did forget he broke up with her. Wow."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four**

Quinn was waiting for Finn at his locker. She was waiting to see what he had to say, he'd texted her the night before asking her to meet him, so here she was, waiting. When Finn finally strolled in the bell was making the buzz sound that it makes right before it rings. Quinn looked at him with an arched brow, as he cleared his throat to speak.

"I broke up with Rachel," he said it so suddenly, so quickly, so solidly, Quinn actually blinked for a moment. Then she quickly composed herself and switched her books to her other arm.

"And you're telling me this because?" She prompted. Just because he finally broke up with the Annoying One didn't mean much, did he expect her to jump for joy, fall into his arms, profess love for him? Quinn started walking toward class with Finn at her heals for a moment, before he fell in stride next to her.

"I-" he mumbled, but then he suddenly didn't know what to say, so he put his hand in the pocket of his coat and picked up his pace, "Class. I have to get to class." Quinn watched him as he hurried down the hall.

Ever since she could remember there had been something between Finn and herself. When they were kids, in grade school he had always been taller than the other boys, but he used his height to be a guardian of the girls, particularly Quinn, rather than a bully. If another boy bothered a girl, he would take that boy aside at recess and talk to him about the proper way to treat girls. Quinn knew Finn was being raised by his mother alone, and she suspected the reason for his manners was because she was teaching him how to look out for girls.

Then there had been that horrible incident, with Puck… Why did Puck have to have such natural charm, such raw magnetism? Quinn hated herself for sleeping with him, even for kissing him, for getting pregnant by him and lying to Finn. If only she could go back in time, if she could, she would never have spent a moment alone with Puck, then she never would have hurt Finn, then she never would have had to go through a pregnancy and labor and delivery! Ouch! At least she knew her baby had a good mother.

By lunch Quinn was curious if Finn told her he broke up with Rachel because he wanted to date her again or if he was just announcing it. She was just sitting down with a tray with a big salad when Finn's tray dropped next to hers and he sat on the bench right beside her.

"When I found out about you and Puck I was furious," he said quietly. Quinn took a stab of salad and looked at it while she turned her head toward Finn, she wanted him to keep his voice down and figured there was a better chance of that if she listened carefully. "Dating Rachel made me realize, you are the one I want to be with. It's not the whole Cheerios thing, it's not the power couple thing, it's, you. I mean, you can be sort of, well, bossy," Quinn raised an eyebrow at him and took another small bite of salad, "But, somehow it's different. And, I'm used to being bossed anyway, I guess I just like it better from you than other people." Finn picked up his burger for the first time since he'd sat down, and took a bite.

Quinn looked up from her little world, the table and her salad and Finn, and the first person who caught her eye, a few tables across the cafeteria, was of course, Rachel. Rachel was sitting with her usual buddies; Mercedes and Kurt, but Puck was at a table nearby and he was ignoring his jock buddies and looking in Rachel's direction.

"It's like a damn love square," Mercedes said low to Kurt, but not too low, Quinn heard it. She looked back at her salad, avoiding the glances from Rachel's table.

"I don't know Finn," she said quietly, "I haven't minded being a single woman, not to mention I have talked to Sam a little-"

"But do you want to go with him? Has he asked you?" Finn interrupted, around a mouthful of food. Quinn looked to her left, to the jock table where Sam was playfully goofing around with some of the other football players. Puck was sitting next to him and she couldn't help but notice he was still looking at Rachel. Quinn looked at her table and she was leaning over ever so slightly talking to Puck. Puck got up and took his tray to the trash and Rachel followed. Mercedes gave a knowing look to Kurt, who dabbed his mouth with a napkin and shook his head.

"Quinn?" Finn's voice brought her out of her thoughts, she put her fork down and took a drink from a bottle of water.

"I don't know," she said again, "I think you need a little time before you start anything up, with me, or, well, with anyone," she turned her body so she was facing Finn, looking straight at him, she put her hand on his arm without thinking. He looked down at her hand, then scanned her body as he looked up to her face. "You know, the whole rebound thing," Quinn said. She stood up and then picked her tray up, "Talk to you later, Finn," she said and left the table. Finn stared after her, confused as ever. She wasn't with Sam, she obviously wasn't with Puck, he hadn't seen her walking with or riding in a car with any other guys at school, and they already knew each other… Finn gulped down the rest of his food as the lunch bell rang, and hurried off to class.

In her last class of the day Rachel had a hard time keeping her mind on the teacher. Teachers could be dreadfully boring of course, why didn't they try harder to keep a student's interest? All they had to do was bring what they were studying into modern times and one would not only be more attentive to the lesson, but get more out of it. Rachel could see the back of Quinn's blond pony tail, she sat casually toward the front of the class. Puck was in a seat next to her in this class and Rachel for some reason felt her face burn with frustration seeing them sitting near one another, knowing they knew each other in a way she did not know Puck, or any boy for that matter. Finn wasn't in this class, thank goodness for that! Seeing him in a few classes and at lunch and in the hallways today made Rachel glad it was Friday. Suddenly a folded up piece of paper landed on her desk in front of her, Rachel picked it up and opened it right away, the unobservant teacher would never notice.

Is Puck driving you home? If not, I'll take you. Let me know. –Kurt.

Rachel uncapped her pen and wrote on the back of the slip of paper that yes, she suspected Puck was driving her home, because there was no football practice today, but to hang around a few minutes just in case. Then she tossed the note back to Kurt. Suddenly Rachel noticed Quinn's sweater-covered arm reach ballet-like across the space between her seat and Puck's, and drop a paper on his desk top. Rachel's heart doubled time for a minute, she watched the side of Puck's face, hoping to catch a reaction. She saw Quinn glance back at her, and quickly lowered her eyes so Quinn wouldn't know she'd caught the exchange. Oh, how she wanted to know what was in that note! Puck quickly tossed it back, Quinn opened it then pocketed it. Rachel had a hard time keeping her face relaxed.

When the bell rang Rachel tried to stay cool and composed, she gathered her books and stood up serenely and walked to the door. Much to her joy Puck was standing there waiting for her. He stood back and let her go first, then he walked out right behind her and walked next to her.

"Need a ride?" He asked. Rachel nodded. They stopped at their lockers, waiting for each other, then headed out into the parking lot. Rachel didn't want to ask about the note. She was willing herself not to ask, telling herself no she would not ask. Puck put his hand on the small of her back as they turned toward his car. She liked it. He opened her door, waited, closed it, then went around and got behind the driver's wheel. He started the engine and started to pull into the line of cars leaving school.

"Come on now, out with it," Puck said to her. Rachel smiled, then looked at him innocently.

"What?" She asked. Puck laughed, he reached over and gave her upper arm a little rub.

"I know you saw Quinn hand me a note, I know you saw me hand it back. You women are like that, always paying attention, a guy can hardly get away with picking a wedgie what with the way you women keep an eye on everything. So, ask me what was in the note, I know you want to know!" He was grinning from ear-to-ear and Rachel felt annoyed, but she had to laugh.

"Well, I was thinking about it-" she began.

"Of course you were," Puck said, nodding.

"-and I guessed she was asking if you knew why Finn broke up with me, or, if you were seeing me now," Rachel added the last part shyly, feeling a little nervous, she didn't want Puck to think she was asking if he was seeing her, she just wanted things to go on as they were so far, and hopefully lead to something, well, something nice, or something exciting. Puck was so exciting.

"You are wrong, Rachel Berry," Puck said, he stopped at a stop sign and leaned over and kissed her cheek, then turned her face with his finger on her chin and pressed his lips hard and hot onto her mouth. Rachel didn't have time to move before he stopped kissing her and put his foot to the gas pedal, sending the car foreword. "Care to guess again?" He teased.

"No," Rachel answered, a little flustered. Puck chuckled to himself.

"She was asking me if Santana had invited me to a movie night she is having. She is inviting all the football players and all the Cheerios, some big sort of end-of-the-football season shindig." Puck turned onto Rachel's street. He knew she was dying to know if he was going to Santana's party, he decided to torture her a little by not giving her the answer she was waiting for, it was so easy to mess with girls, especially Rachel, though he didn't want to mess with her too much and make her cry or something. Girls were so prone to crying.

"Do you want to come in?" Rachel asked, reaching for her door. Puck nodded and jumped out, by the time he got to her door she had it open, but he held it for her. Once both her feet were on the ground he put his arms around her waist and lifted her up to kiss her, the same kind of pressing, hot kiss he'd given her at the stop light. Rachel dropped her back pack and kissed him back. Neither of them heard the door of her dad's car close. He was already in the drive, looking at Rachel standing outside Puck's car at the curb, in a serious lip lock.

"Eh-um!" Rachel didn't hear that either, as her dad cleared his throat to get her attention. Puck was still kissing her and her arms were at her sides, his were tight around her body, it was the most delicious kiss she'd ever had, better than she'd ever even dreamed of.

When Puck felt someone tap his shoulder, not roughly, but not exactly like a waitress asking if you wanted a refill, he stopped kissing Rachel but kept his arms around her, when he saw it was one of her dads he slowly released her and smiled. It wasn't the first time a dad caught him with his tongue inside a daughter's mouth. Rachel's face was white as a sheet when she realized what her dad just saw her doing! She blushed then and her white face gained two rosy spots. She didn't know what to say. Puck was standing there beside her smiling, not embarrassed at all. She was surprised to see her dad didn't even look mad, just mildly amused. He picked up her back pack and started for the house. Rachel looked at Puck, then glanced after her dad, he was walking slowly up the front walk.

"I don't know what to do," she confessed to Puck. He only laughed, kissed her cheek, then planted one on her mouth, and started around the front of his car.

"I will call you later," he opened his door, but looked at her over the top of his car, "Okay?"

"Sure. Yes. Okay, talk to you later," Rachel answered, her response sounding all jumbled up, she took a deep breath, and could still smell Puck's scent on her clothes, "Talk to you later," she said, smiled, and walked after her dad, who was still poking his way up the sidewalk. She glanced over her shoulder one last time to see Puck smile and wave, then pull away from the curb like a driver's ed student, slow and easy. She caught up with her dad who put his arm over her shoulder and kissed the side of her head.

"Boys," he said, kind of like he missed that youthful time of life, "Being a teenager can be so exciting, I hope you remember everything we've taught you," Rachel sighed, she felt a sex talk coming. It didn't even embarrass her anymore when her dads talked to her about sex, she knew they only wanted to make sure she was informed and safe. Though getting caught making out on the boulevard in front of the house wasn't her favorite moment. Although, she was making out with Noah Puckerman, and she could not imagine anytime she'd be embarrassed caught in his arms.


	5. Chapter 5

Mercedes and Kurt flopped down on his dad's living room couch after school. He dropped his back pack on the floor next to the couch and Mercedes dropped her's in front of her feet. Kurt's dad was still at work and so was Finn's mom, the plan was to study, but Kurt and Mercedes usually got so busy talking they didn't even open their back packs.

"Sometimes I just don't want to even give other people's relationships another thought," Kurt said, putting his feet up on the foot stool in front of him. Mercedes rubbed her temples and sighed.

"I know what you mean. Sometimes I just want to talk about MY relationships!" She winked and Kurt and he burst out laughing. They heard the door opened, craned their necks, and saw Finn walk in.

"Hey Kurt, Mercedes," he said when he saw them on the couch. He sat down in the recliner his mom brought when they moved in. "What are you up to?" He propped his own feet up on the coffee table.

"Homework," Kurt said at the same time Mercedes answered, "Gossip." They both started laughing. Finn could tell this conversation would keep erupting into giggles and he wasn't in the mood. He nodded absently, went to the kitchen, grabbed a snack and went upstairs. Mercedes and Kurt looked at each other and started laughing.

Finn sat on the edge of his bed for a moment, not really staring at anything, not really seeing anything. He thought about Rachel, he thought about Quinn, he thought about Brittany, he couldn't remember the last time he was in his room that he didn't think about Brittany, it was just a natural thing for a guy to do. He tried to think about his thoughts about each girl. Rachel made him feel, tired, she was pretty and she could be sweet, but he felt she was always pushing him in some direction or another. Thinking about Quinn made him feel, made him feel… so many things. He felt betrayed and hurt, always when her name and face popped into his head, knowing what she'd done with Puck, what she tried to pin on him. But then he felt a certain familiarity when he thought of her. With Brittany, he just thought of how she flung her hair around when she danced. And her legs, her long legs. Finn laid back on his bed and sighed, he had homework to get to.

"It sure is quiet up there," Mercedes commented, gesturing toward the stairs with her head. Kurt actually had his math book out, and a notebook, and was rummaging for a pencil.

"Yeah, you know, he has a lot of things to think about, he usually spends some time up there after school, processing, or, something," He got the pencil and sat back, and straightened up at the same time, "Let's get some work done, Mercedes, I'd love to be done with school work so I can talk to Blaine later." Mercedes obligingly got her math stuff out and flipped to the page they were on. She was good at math, Kurt was good at math, their study sessions were more of a race to see who could Finnish first, the loser had to check the answers to make sure they didn't make any mistakes.

As Mercedes worked a problem she thought about Finn upstairs, he was in his bedroom, she wondered how many girls he'd made out with up there on his bed. She hadn't been in his room, so she couldn't picture it. Kurt was the only boy's room she'd been in, and they only talked, of course. Suddenly Mercedes found herself putting her book and paper on the coffee table, she headed for the stairs. Kurt was so immersed in his work he didn't notice she was gone.

Mercedes came to the top of the stairs, she knew Kurt's room was downstairs because she'd helped him with some of his interior design, she looked at the doors, they were all open but one. Bathroom-check, master bedroom-check, a small den-nice! She stopped at the closed door, it smelled like teenage boy, or teenage man? No, teenage boy. She put her hand up to knock but then thought better of it and slowly turned the knob.

Finn was laying on his back on one side of his bed, he had his arm over his eyes, his other arm hanging off the bed. Mercedes pushed the door shut all the way. Finn lifted his head to see who was in his room.

"Mercedes?" He frowned. She sat down on the bed next to him.

"You had a big day today, Finn," she said quietly, "And you are ending your day as a single man," she settled down on her side next to him. Finn didn't move a muscle. Mercedes put a hand on his chest and propped her head up with her other arm, her elbow leaning on the bed.

"I-" Finn started. Mercedes put her Finnger on his lips, bent down and kissed him. Much to her surprise he kissed her back, he put his hand up on the back of her neck and held her so she couldn't back up, and kissed her back!

Downstairs Kurt zoomed through his last problem and looked up expectantly at Mercedes' empty spot. He frowned and looked at her paper, she only did three problems. That was odd. Kurt walked to the kitchen, she wasn't there, he checked the hall bathroom, the door was open, the light was off, the room was empty. He glanced out the front window, she wasn't outside, sometimes she stepped out to take a call or a juicy text so Kurt wouldn't tease her and make her type something ridiculous or if she was talking say something crazy.

Suddenly Kurt heard a noise. He walked to the bottom of the steps and listened carefully. He took three steps up and froze, listening.

"Oh. My. God." Kurt whispered to himself. He dashed up the stairs noiselessly and stopped at the top of the stairs. "Ohmygod," he gasped all in one breath. He tiptoed closer to Finn's door, he could hear the bed rattling, he could hear breathing, he could hear other noises.

"Finn!" he heard the unmistakable sound of Mercedes' voice, but he'd never heard her sound like that. Then he heard a groan, the kind of noise Finn made when he got sacked on the football field. Kurt put his hand out to take the door knob, but then he came to his senses and hurried back downstairs. He picked his phone up, then set it down. He picked his math up, then set it down.

"Blaine, oh do I need to talk to you!" he said quietly. Then he felt uncomfortable, what should he do? Should he keep his math in front of him and pretend he was doing work when Mercedes came down? Should he fix something to eat in the kitchen? Should he go outside and call Blaine? He didn't want Mercedes and Finn to know he'd heard them. What the hell was going on? Did he just think to himself, "Mercedes and Finn?" Mercedes and Finn! MERCEDES AND Finn! A thump against the wall upstairs caught his attention. "Ohmygod!" Kurt said to himself once again, and he grabbed his cell and ran outside.

Blaine, I need to talk. He texted. His phone vibrated in his hands immediately. What is it Kurt? Kurt was about to text, but his thumbs were frozen. He looked around, there were kids playing across the street. He looked into the open garage, there was a car in there his dad had been working on, he jumped into the front seat and called Blaine.

"Blaine, it's me, Kurt!" He breathed.

"What's wrong? You sound sort of out-of-breath," Blaine answered.

"You wouldn't believe it if I told you! But, I have to say something to someone, I just, can't believe I'm saying this!" Kurt gasped. He was so shocked he was shaking, he tried to calm his voice so he could speak. "Mercedes and Finn are upstairs, in Finn's room, right now," He began.

"Yes? So?" Blaine couldn't imagine what the big deal could be.

"Having sex! They are doing it, Blaine! Mercedes," Kurt lowered his voice to an even lower whisper, "And Finn!" Kurt winced when he heard the sound of Blaine's phone hit the floor.


	6. Chapter 6

"I've never done it before," Mercedes whispered. Finn lay on his back with his arm under her neck. He smiled, felt a little cool and a lot studly, then smiled again even bigger.

"Yeah, I, wow," he started at the ceiling, "I uh, I was with Santana, but that's all. I mean, Quinn and Rachel-" he broke off. [Soft Break]"Yeah, I know," Mercedes answered, "I haven't even come close until now," she swallowed, cleared her throat, "I liked it," she giggled to herself, "I liked it, Finn." She felt his arm tighten around her shoulder and his fingers rubbed her arm.

"Yeah, me too."

When Mercedes walked into school the next morning Kurt was waiting inside the door for her. He looked at her with raised eyebrows and hooked his arm through her's.

"Miss Mercedes, Miss Mercedes, what am I going to do with you woman!" He steered her down the hallway toward his locker.

"What are you talking about?" She asked innocently, but she was wondering, what did Kurt know? Had he noticed her absence and come upstairs unbeknownst to her? Had he heard anything?

She noticed when she came downstairs, finally, that Kurt was in the kitchen munching on a snack. She figured he has finished his math and gotten a snack, thinking maybe she was in the bathroom.

They had finished checking their math and then talked a while before she told him she had to get home and he told her Blaine was coming over anyway.

"What am I talking about? Come on, Mercedes, you can't just disappear for half an hour during Math Time and not expect me to notice? I'm not one of those unobservant guys, am I? No! I noticed you were gone, I checked around downstairs, I looked outside, Hmm, no Mercedes I thought, I heard a noise coming from upstairs." When he said upstairs Mercedes blushed, she pressed her lips together and pulled him into an empty classroom.

"Shh!" She looked around nervously, "You can't say anything, you can't say a word. Rachel would, she would flip out! She's my friend!"

"I know she's your friend! That's part of why this is so, so, shocking!" Kurt choked out.

"I know," Mercedes shook her head, "I don't even know, I have no idea what possessed me, or him," she shook her head again, but she was smiling and blushing.

"Well, I guess you need to talk to him then, don't you?" Kurt saw Finn go by in the hall and he grabbed Mercedes and gave her a shove right out the door. Mercedes was surprised by Kurt's strength when she found herself bumping right into the back of Finn. He looked at her in surprise and smiled quickly.

"Good morning Miss Jones," he gave her his lopsided smile and she blushed, her cheeks pinking and warming.

"Finn," she glanced around to see if anyone was paying attention, she felt certain anyone seeing them in the hallway would know, would just know! They rounded a corner and came face-to-face with Quinn! She was standing right in the middle of the hallway, she was wearing one of her school marm slash church lady dresses, complete with the three quarter length sleeve sweater.

"Why Finn, Mercedes, how are you two this morning?" Quinn spoke in her usual quiet, reserved voice. The one that scared Finn because he knew a lecture was coming, the same voice that annoyed Mercedes and made her want to slap Quinn so she would raise her voice a little.

"We didn't have sex," Finn blurted out. Mercedes' mouth dropped open and her eyes flew open wide as she gaped from Finn to Quinn and back to Finn again. Something inside her said to run down the hall, or at least walk quickly so as not to create suspicion, but she was rooted to her spot. Quinn's smile vanished. She dropped her books. Her eyes narrowed as she looked from Finn to Mercedes. She knew it was true, she knew they had done it, she knew, she could tell by the way they stood there, by the way they looked at her, by the way Finn's eyes had dropped to the floor.

"Which of you is the biggest whore is beyond me," she said in such a low voice Finn almost didn't hear what she said, but Mercedes did, and so did Santana who was coming up behind them.

"Who's a whore?" Santana asked stepping between Finn and Mercedes. "Well, other than the little mother here," she looked Quinn straight in the eye. Quinn whisked up her books in a fluid motion and spun on her heel and not only marched down the hall, but kept going and went out the door to the parking lot. Santana looked at Finn, then she slowly turned her head and looked at Mercedes, a slow smile played about her lips then she laughed.

"Wow!" she laughed again and hooked her arms through their arms, throwing her head back and laughing again, "Oh, Finn and Mercedes, we have so much to talk about!"

Mercedes had never ditched school, neither had Finn, but somehow sitting in the back of Santana's car driving away from the school during the school day didn't seem like that big of a deal. Mercedes felt her face warm when Santana made a turn too fast and she and Finn slid into one another. Finn smiled at her and slipped his hand around hers. Mercedes had no idea what to think of him. At first she thought yesterday was just one of those moments you hear about, where two people come together unexpectedly, but it is actually quite meaningless. Then she thought, last night while she was falling asleep, that maybe it was going to end up being one of those Friends with Benefits things, but that was so unlike her and so unlike Finn, which, maybe is what made it make sense. But now that he was looking out his window with his hand casually wrapped around her hand she was not sure what to think.

"-and that is how it has been with Brittany and me." Mercedes blinked back into reality to hear the last few words of Santana's sentence.

"I don't know yet, Santana, but at least neither of us is seeing anyone. For Brittany to be seeing Artie and mess around with you, that is cheating, even if you are not a guy," Finn stated with amazing clarity.

"But she is my best friend, we're not lovers, we are just friends who sometimes practice kissing together, it's been that way for a long time. All I'm saying is maybe you two are going to end up, you know, blowing off steam together. There is no harm in it." Santana said with finality, she pulled her car into the parking lot of a coffee shop.

The three of them walked in and ordered drinks and sat down. Mercedes had a brownie, Santana had a muffin, Finn had some sort of big sandwich. It was early in the day, but teenagers can always eat, the waitress thought as she put their tray in front of them. She gave the group one last glance and went back to her work.

"Okay, so, you had sex," Santana began, "Now what? I can counsel you right through this or right into this, whatev." She took a bite of her muffin and rested her chin on her fist, the point of her elbow on the table. Sex was easy to figure out, relationships were too, just because she didn't have things straightened out yet for herself, well, that didn't mean she couldn't help these two, they had so little experience, it would be easy to get them on the right track. "So, first question, do you want to have sex with each other again?" She watched their faces to catch the reaction they may not speak.

"Yes." They said at the same time. Mercedes followed with a giggle and Finn blushed. Santana nodded.

"Okay then, Finn, Mercedes, do you want to date, do you want this to be public? I assume Kurt knows, so if Kurt knows I would assume Blaine knows, and Rachel will know within 24 hours, if Rachel knows then Miss Pillsbury will know, if she knows Schuester will find out, I would guess Puck will know the next time you are in class together…" Santana trailed off, her eyes to the ceiling as she calculated.

"Quinn figured it out," Mercedes reminded. Finn choked on a bite of sandwich and for some reason started laughing. "What exactly is so funny about that?" Mercedes asked. She'd seen Quinn in action, Quinn could really make a person miserable if she wanted, that condescending tone, oh, it was the worst. Mercedes gulped down a slurp of her iced coffee.

"I totally forgot about the prom queen wanna be!" Santana burst out laughing. She took a few moments to compose herself, "Well, then instead of spending our time thinking about who knows I guess we can think about who does not know, but honestly, at this point, you may as well go public. Let's face it, enough of us know."

Finn looked at Mercedes. It wasn't that he didn't want people to know he was dating her, she was beautiful and she did have a rockin' dancing body and she could really sing. He just wasn't sure what people would think of him, going from one girl to another in such a short time. But, who did he care about caring?

Mercedes returned Finn's look, she managed a half-smile. Finn? She just wasn't sure she wanted that much responsibility. Really, look how much work and time and energy Rachel and Quinn had spent on him, trying to make sure things didn't get mucked up. All the time Rachel was with Finn she typed longer and longer texts every day talking about him, about his blunders, about her expectations of him. Mercedes looked at Finn, he was taking a drink of his coffee, his sandwich was gone, he was looking at the tv which was displaying a sports event, looked like golf. Just because he'd had two bossy girlfriends didn't mean it had to be that way if she was his- well, if she was with him. And they were having sex, well, they'd had sex, if they continued, that was a whole different dynamic.

"Do you want to like, go out, or be boyfriend and girlfriend, or whatever?" she asked him. He turned around in his chair to be totally facing her and that Finn grin came over his face.

"Yes," he said.

"This is a blast," Santana said, she stood up, threw her purse over her shoulder and headed for the door. Finn took Mercedes' hand and they followed her, smiling.


End file.
